Made for God, Not a god (Nov 1, 09)

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CREATION M3 SERMON NOTES NOVEMBER 1, 2009

TITLE : Made for God--not a god

TEXT: Genesis 2: 8-9; 2: 15-17; 3: 1-7

Ken Shigematsu

BIG IDEA: The essence of sin is to trust something or someone, other than God.

How many of you have rappelled down the side of a cliff?

If you rappel for the first time, your guide will encourage you to walk backwards off a cliff (use a rope as prop), as you step off to throw yourself back almost as if you were doing a “trust fall,” and someone was going to catch you. Your guide will say trust the ropes and your equipment and (show PowerPoint image now) lean back…

But, it doesn’t feel safe to throw yourself backwards over a cliff (even with ropes) and then lean back. So what many first time rappellers will do is hug the cliff (like the cliff is their new best friend), but when a person does that they slide down the cliff and often end up scrapping a knee or their nose.

They key to rappelling is to trust your equipment.

We’ve been in series in the book of Genesis on what it means to be a human being (we’ve seen how part of what it means to be a human being is to be in relationship--it’s in our nature, it’s in our DNA. Last week we considered how part of what it means to be a human being is to represent God by care for a creation that God takes pleasure and delight in) and today we’re going look at how human beings will flourish--or not--based on whether they trust their maker.

If you have your Bibles please turn to Genesis 2:8

Genesis 2: 8-9:

8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2: 15-17:

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die."

Genesis 3: 1-7:

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

4 "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

In Genesis 2: 8-9 we read:

8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In Genesis 1 and 2 we see that God has given Adam extraordinary gifts. He has given Adam a friendship with himself that is open and transparent. He has given Adam great work--great blue-collar work as a farmer working with very fertile soil; great white-collar work as a zoologist, naming all the animals. Adam is surrounded by a gorgeous paradise, and he has exquisite food. Then, finally, God also gives Adam the gift of Eve, a human companion who also becomes his wife.

So God has given Adam and Eve wonderful gifts… In Genesis 2:9 we see that God has also given them, contrary to popular assumption, access to the fruit of the tree of life. The tree of life symbolized that God’s intention for Adam and Eve was good… life in all its abundance…a life of joy…a life of wholeness… a life everlasting.

Then in Genesis 3 vs. 1 we read how Satan, who is also called “the great deceiver,” approaches them in the form of a serpent. Jesus said in John 10:10, while God’s purpose for us is that we might experience life in all its fullness, Satan comes to us to kill, steal, and destroy us. We read in vs. 1 that the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.

When we read how Satan approached Adam and Eve in the form of a serpent perhaps we envision a coiled snake with a slithering tongue crawling on its belly. When we read about the serpent here in the early part of Genesis 3, the serpent has not yet been cursed by God (Genesis 3:14) to crawl on its belly all the days of its life because the serpent had enticed Adam and Eve to sin.

Commentators on Genesis have pointed out that the serpent, before it was cursed, was likely a creature of extraordinary beauty. Later in the Bible, we are told that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. When Satan comes to us, he will not come to us in the form of a crawling snake with a slithering tongue. He will glide into our lives in a form that is so attractive and so alluring, and so seemingly attuned to our self-interest, that we may have no idea that the “evil one” is tempting us. (In the movie, The Usual Suspects, Verbal (Kevin Spacey) says, “The greatest trick of the devil is convincing people he doesn’t exist.”)

Notice the way that the serpent comes to Eve because the way he comes to Eve is the way he will come to us. The serpent Satan comes to Eve and begins to ask her in Genesis 1, “Did God really say ‘You cannot eat of any tree in the garden?’ In the original, the Hebrew word translated “really” has a skeptical tone to it. One of the ways Satan will tempt us is through the use of this skeptical and sarcastic “really?” “You’ve got to be kidding?!”

Satan smears God by making him seem so unreasonable.

Satan also smears God by saying, “Did God really say you cannot eat from any tree of the garden?” But, is that what God said? No. God did not say that Adam could not eat of any tree of the Garden of Eden. He said in Genesis 2: 16 that Adam (and later Eve) was free to eat all any trees in the garden, including the tree of life, but the one tree they could not eat of was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Satan takes something positive that God has said, “You can eat of all the trees, except one,” and twists that singular prohibition into something really negative: “God has said that you cannot eat of any tree.” Satan shifts the focus from God’s abundant provision to a prohibition, from the positive to the negative. You can see in the text that Satan has already had a negative impact on Eve’s thinking because she says, “We cannot eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden.” But, did God say this? No. God tells us that tree of life is in the middle of the garden and they were free to eat from this tree. The one tree that Adam and Eve were not allowed to eat from was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (God said if effect this one tree belongs exclusively to me, trust me).

Then Eve says, “God said do not touch the fruit.” But, did God say, “Do not touch the fruit?” No, God never said anything about not touching it. God said they were not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Satan will try to smear God by twisting God’s words. He will not emphasize God’s provision, but his prohibition. He will try to take something positive and twist it so it becomes negative. Satan not only smears God by twisting his words, but he also smears God by attacking God’s character. He suggests to Eve that God is trying to keep her and Adam from a truly free and fulfilling life. He says, “God doesn’t want you to eat of the fruit of tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he knows that when you eat it, your eyes will become open and you will become like God.” Satan says, “God wants to keep you from really living, from really reaching your potential.”

What Satan does is to try to convince us that God is not worthy of our trust… that we are better off living independently from God… that we are better off if we served as our own god. In verse 4 Satan says, “If you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely not die.” This is a clear, blatant contradiction of what God said in Genesis 2:17. In Genesis 2:17 God says if they eat the fruit of that tree they would surely die. But, Satan says, “For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.”

Satan is whispering in Adam and Eve’s ear that if they eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they will have the knowledge of good and evil that will make them like God… so that they won’t need God’s guidance anymore; that they can live independently, separate from God--and become more fully human—free…

This is how Satan continues to tempt us today. Satan tempts us by whispering to us that God does not have our best interests in mind; that if we follow God’s way, we will miss out; that we are better off living independently from God; that we will be better off and more fully human if we are our own god. As a teenager, I believed in the existence of God, but I had a suspicion in the back of mind that if I really gave my life over to God, I would miss out on all the excitement of life.

For some of you, what holds you back from giving your life fully to God is the feeling that if you do—you will miss out on in some way.

What Satan tries to do is to smear God’s character. He tries to make us believe that if we give ourselves fully to God, we will miss out on life, and that we are better off living as our own god.

The Book of Genesis and the scriptures show us we were made to trust God… that we were made to trust something bigger that ourselves.

Throughout Genesis and the scriptures we see how human beings were made to live in relationship with God. Because we were built to trust God, because we were designed to place our security, identity and meaning in God, if we don’t, it is not like we will be truly autonomous, as Satan suggests, but we will build our life on something or someone other than God… a substitute god…a pseudo saviour…

In Romans 1 we read:

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator…

Because we were made to worship God, when we do not, we will find ourselves placing our security, identity in meaning in something or someone other than God.

According to Romans 1, the essence of sin is idolatry, turning to something or someone other than God for our LIFE. The very first sin of the human race was not adultery or murder or theft, but Adam and Eve choosing to trust something other than God for their LIFE.

The church father Tertullian said that the primary sin of the human race is idolatry--turning to something other than God for our security, identity, and meaning in life.

An idol is whatever we put our primary trust and security in. For some people, their idol is work. There is nothing wrong intrinsically with work. Work is a gift from God. We were made to work. But when we turn work into the thing that defines us, it becomes an idol.

When I was working for a corporation in Tokyo, Japan, when a Japanese salary-man (corporate soldier) would find out that I was a Christian, he would typically respond by saying, “Oh, I am not religious. Japanese people are really not religious.” I would say, “Oh, Japanese people are very religious… (pause)… the religion for many Japanese men is the company. It is what you devote your life to. It is where you get your meaning. Where you find your community. It’s where you make sacrifices.” For many men (and an increasing number of women) in Japan, their religion is their company, their work, their career. Many people in large urban areas like Tokyo (and to some extent even in place like Vancouver) are defined by their work, that’s where they are seeking meaning in life, that’s what they are willing to sacrifice for.

Work can be a very demanding idol. As long we are serving this idol well, things may seem fine for us, but if we are failing at work, if we find that we are out of work, the work idol will make us feel like we are nothing. If we serve the lord of our career well, things may seem like they are going fine. But if we fail the god of work, this god can punish us with a vengeance. The idol can make us feel like our life is meaningless. It can fill us with a sense of despair, and can make us even make us feel life there is no more point to our life.

By the way, how can you tell whether we have an idol, versus something we really value in our lives? If we value something and lose it, we will feel sad, perhaps really sad… But if we idolize something and then lose it, then we will feel like our life is now meaningless, and that there is no point to our life. We don’t know how we’re going to go on.

Do you have something like that in your life? Might you have an idol?

For other people, their idol might be their education. Again, like work, education, in and of itself is a very good thing.

But, if we make education our idol it can crush us. If we serve the education idol well, we’re getting good grades; we’re being admitted to the right programs; it may seem like things are fine. But if we don’t serve this idol well, this idol can be ruthless, as well.

If we don’t get into the right school, the right program, if we don’t distinguish ourself in our program in some way, and if education is our idol… we will feel despair, like our life is meaningless, like we are not sure how we are going to be able to go on… If our education is a we value and we fail in it, we will be sad. But if our education is what defines us, and if we fail it, it will punish us. It will make us feel like our life is worthless, that there is no point to it.

Beauty can become an idol, too. Beauty is a gift from God. As we talked about last week, God made a beautiful earth; he made beautiful people. When my wife was studying painting at Emily Carr she said, if you really look at people, you’ll see that every human being is beautiful. But if we make beauty and idol it can crush us.

Frederick Buechner, the author and pastor writes sadly of his own mother: “Being beautiful was her business, her art, her delight, and it took her a long way and earned her many dividends, but when as she saw it, she lost her beauty… she was like a millionaire who runs out of money. She took her name out of the phone book and got an unlisted number. With her looks gone, she felt she had nothing left to offer the world… So what she did was simply check out of the world, my mother holed herself up in her apartment… then in one room of that apartment, then in just one chair in that room, and finally in the bed where one morning a few summers ago… she died at last.”

If your beauty or youth or health is an idol, and you lose it like Buechner’s mother, once you lose it, you feel you have nothing left to offer the world and there’s a part of you that checks out.

Another idol can be a romantic relationship. If we fall in love with someone, that will sweep us off your feet. That can be a wonderful experience and a gift from God.

But if that person’s love is the one thing that makes us feel worthy as a human being, or valuable, if we feel like I am nobody unless this person loves me, or my life is meaningless unless this person loves me, then we have an idol. And if we fail the idol of romance, we can feel despair, like our life is meaningless, that there is no point in going on in life… (I’ve been there. I’ve been so invested in a romantic relationship that when we broke up, for a while it felt like there no point to life. Looking back that how I know that a good thing, had become an ultimate thing for me—an idol.).

Marriage can be a wonderful gift. But, it’s possible, particularly if you are happily married, to make an idol out of your spouse. If we love our spouse and something compromises the marriage in some way, or if our spouse dies, we will naturally experience great mourning and despair…. But, if our spouse is our god, and we lost our spouse we will feel like there is just is no point to life any more…

Family and children are great gifts, but they can become idols well. In the Christian world, as a pastor mentor of mine says, we tend not to think of family or children as idols, but there are parents who look at their children and in their hearts they are saying “if my children are happy and healthy, if they love me, if they are successful, if they are walking with God, then I know that I am worth something. I am not loser.”

We can even make an idol out of our religious practices.

Praying, going to church, seeking to learn about God, seeking to live a life in alignment with God’s plan for us are good things. But as Tim Keller says in his book, Prodigal God, if we make our religious and spiritual practices, which are good things, ultimate things instead of God, then when we fail at these things, we will again experience despair and feel that life is meaningless. We can feel there is no point to our life.

The essence of sin is putting our security, identity, and meaning in something other than the living God.

The other “god” can be harsh if we fail it, but can also wedge us from the real God, source of all life.

Many people choose not to fully devote themselves to God because they feel they will miss out on life if they do. The irony is that when they do so, they turn to something or someone other than God for their identity, security and meaning, and they find that something is missing in their life because we were made for the living God.

Each of us has a hole in our lives that can only be filled by God.

There is nothing wrong with most idols in and of themselves: there’s nothing wrong with work, education, beauty, or family. In and of themselves these are good things. But if we make them the most important thing in our life, they will occupy our hearts to place in our hearts that only God can fill… and if we fail them they will punish us… EVEN IF we serve them well--they will leave us feeling less than wholly satisfied because there’s a part of our soul that only God can satisfy.

How do we break the power of something good that has become an idol to us?

In the Greek mythology, Homer tells us of the enchanting Isle of Sirens, where there are beautiful creatures that are part human and part bird. The Sirens could sing so beautifully that they enchanted all those who heard them. Sailors who would pass by and heard their singing would hurl themselves overboard and swim to them, but would die on the jagged rocks surrounding the island.

When Odysseus was about to pass the Isle of the Sirens by ship he ordered his men to plug their ears with beeswax so they could not hear the siren’s songs. Then he had them tie him to the mast of the ship.

But, when the great adventurer Jason needed to sail past the Isle of the Sirens, Jason brought the along the incomparable musician Orpheus. When they passed the Isle of the Sirens, Jason had Orpheus play more beautiful music than the Sirens, and they were able to pass by unharmed.

Thomas Chalmers has said the only way to break the power of a beautiful object on the soul is to show it something more beautiful.

It as we gaze on the beauty and the magnificence and the goodness of God, whether through Scripture, silence, nature, art, music, people--the power of an idol can be broken in our lives.

If we gaze on God’s love for us in the face of Christ, we can trust God without reserve.

In the Garden of Eden see how God gave Adam and Eve access to the tree of life, a sign that God’s intention for us is to experience life in all its fullness, joy and peace.

In another garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, we see that God became a human being in Jesus Christ and died on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven, so that our shame could be washed away, so that we could be restored to him. As we look at God’s face in Christ, we see don’t see a god who not punish when we fail him, but a God who forgives us. We see the face of the only God who can fulfill us. We see the face of the one who alone is worthy of our entire trust and worship.

Prayer:

Is there something too important to you? Has a good thing that’s become an ultimate thing?

Name it.

Talk to God about this…

(Sometimes I have prayed, “Teach me to care and not care.

Help me to be passionate and dispassionate…”)

Pray you would be swept up in the beauty, the adventure, and the mystery of discovering how great and awesome and loving and good God is, and ask that you would be able to trust him.

Perhaps you’d like to pray John Donne’s prayer

Batter my heart, three-personed God…

Take me to you, imprison me, for I,

Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,

Nor even chaste, except you ravish me.

God's Green Earth (Oct 25, 09)

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CREATION M2 SERMON NOTES OCTOBER 25, 2009

TITLE: Caring for God’s Green Earth

TEXT: Genesis 1; selections from Job 38-41; Revelation 21:1-5

Ken Shigematsu and Brent Chamberlain

BIG IDEA: We are called to care for God’s green earth.

If you were to go to my wife Sakiko’s family home just outside of Osaka, Japan you would notice that part of the home is very traditional. They have the traditional tiled roof and sections of the house with traditional straw woven tatami mats on the floor and sliding doors. Their home is adorned by Bonsai trees.

When I learned that the house had originally been purchased by one of Sakiko’s ancestors from a famous kabuki actor and has been passed down to her family from her ancestors, I feel a heightened sense of respect for her family land.

When we understand where something comes from, our attitude towards it changes.

When we understand the story of where our planet came from, our attitude toward it will change.

In the ancient Babylonian myth of creation Enuma Elish there is an epic battle between the gods, Marduk and Tiamat. In this battle Marduk slays Tiamat and he splits her body in half like a fish for drying. From one half of Tiamit’s body Marduk fashions the heavens and with other half he forms the earth. Then Marduk says to the other gods who were on his side, “Now that we have created the earth, we need someone to do the ‘dirty work’ taking care of it.” So human beings were created as the slaves of the gods to take care of the earth.

The Genesis account of creation challenges the ancient creation myths that claim the earth is a the result of a battle between pagan gods and that the earth is the body of a defeated god.

In Genesis 1: 1-3 we read:

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

(Many people come across a passage like Genesis 1 and ask, “How long did it take to create the world? Or precisely, how did God create the earth?” But these are not the primary questions that the author is addressing here. Genesis 1 was not written as a scientific textbook account of the origins of the earth. Genesis 1 is historical in the sense that it offers real truths about creation, but, as respected Harvard-trained Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke and others have argued, Genesis 1 reveals real truth about creation, but in an artistic and poetic, rather than straight-literalistic kind of way.)

We go on and we read that God created the ground and the seas and called it good (2 slides: mountain and seas). God created the vegetation, the plants and trees (slide of trees), and said, “These are good.” God separated the light from the darkness (orange and white slide) and said, “This is good.” God created all kinds of creatures in the sea and all kinds of birds, and said it was good. God created all kinds of animals (slide of horses) and said it was good.

(SHOW POWERPOINT)

And then God looked at the entirety of his creation, and said, “It is very good.”

In Genesis 1 we do not read about a god who made the earth because he didn’t know what else to do with the defeated body of a rival god. But rather, we read of a God who made the earth and took great pleasure in it by describing it as “good! good! good! good! good! very good!”

In the ancient Book of Job we read about how Job experienced terrible suffering and begins to question God’s goodness and justice. God appears to Job out of a storm and he asks him:

Job 38:4-7:

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand…

6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—

7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels [a] shouted for joy?

God says, “Job, were you there when I laid the cornerstone of the earth and all the stars and the angels shouted for joy?”

Job 38:



32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons [a]
or lead out the Bear [b] with its cubs?

Job 39:

1 "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

13 "The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.

26 "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?

27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?

In the Book of Job and the Genesis account we read about how God takes great pleasure in his creation.

As an artist takes delight in their masterpiece, as a mother or father takes delight in their child, so God takes delight in his creation.

We’ve been entrusted with a creation of God that he takes great pleasure and delight in.

At our wedding, my uncle who is a bank executive-turned artist, gave us a painting of a couple who are standing at the end of a brick alley adorned with ivy and green potted plants in Gastown. The sun is streaming onto the couple. My uncle told me this is his favorite painting. Because of that I view it with a different kind of respect and devotion. In the same way, when we recognize that God gifted us this earth to dwell and delight in, we will see it and treat it differently.

And then in Genesis 1:26, as we looked at last week, we read:

26 Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals…

Last week we talked about how part of what it means to be made in the image of a God who is in relationship is that we were made for relationship—it’s in our nature; it’s in our DNA.

Another part of what it means to be made in God’s image is to that we represent God.

When God in Genesis 1:26 says we were made in God’s image, the word image literally means “statue.” In the ancient world kings would set up statues in remote parts of their kingdom. Before the days of photography, television and the internet, you obviously could not have images of yourself throughout the kingdom to remind everyone that you were the king. So instead, you would set up statues across the kingdom and these images would remind people of your presence.

And so when we read we are made in the image of God in Genesis 1: 26, it is not only a reminder that we are not created as slaves to do the “dirty work” of the gods, as some of the creation myths suggest, but we are actually made in God’s image. We were made to represent God by resembling God in the world.

What does it mean to represent God?

As we read the Genesis account, part of what it means to represent God is that we take pleasure and delight in creation as God does.

Another part of what it means to represent is that we have the privilege of caring for the earth.

In Genesis 1:26 we read God saying:

26 Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

Part of what it means to represent God on earth is that like God we exercise rule or as the older King James version uses the word “dominion” on the earth. Now the word dominion suggests, we, like God, have power over creation. And power can be used to abuse the earth, but power can also be used to care for it.

In Genesis 2 we read God’s creation account from another angle. We get insight into what God meant when he said we are to rule over the earth. We read in Genesis 2: 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

“To take care of” is also used in here Scripture to describe a gardener care for a garden.

A gardener has power over a garden. That power can be used to abuse the garden (I’m going to use my weed eater to mow down the roses), but a gardener can also us his or her power to care for the garden.

This word is also used to describe how a shepherd watches over his flock of sheep. A shepherd has power over his sheep. He can use his power to abuse the sheep (I’m going to yank your ears), but a shepherd can also use his power to care and protect the sheep.

In the movie Spiderman, Spiderman’s uncle says to him, “With great power comes great responsibility.” We humans have been given power and dominion over the earth (in a way the other animals do not have), but with the power comes great responsibility to care and protect for this earth that God delights in).

When we care for and protect the earth, we honour the one who made it.

As I have shared before, when I graduated from seminary in Boston, I was pretty much broke. The first position I took out of seminary was to serve as a pastor of a new church start-up in southern California. The church had no denominational backing and no major financial backing. A couple in southern California, whom I had never met, heard that I was coming to southern California to start this church. The husband called me and explained that he and his wife travelled up to half the year, and asked if I would be interested in living in their home for free in exchange for taking care of their plants and dog while they were away.

They said, “If you need time to think and pray about it, we just wanted you to know that we live in a home that overlooks the ocean in San Clemente, one of the best surfing beaches in North America.” I was like “I do.” My choices were either to be living in the back seat of my car or living in a home that overlooked the ocean. Easy choice!

This couple, John and Carol, the owners of the home, became friends of mine. They were amazingly generous to me in many ways. They not only allowed me to live in their home without charge, but they gave me some really good counsel for the church start-up and even listened to some of the woes I was experiencing with the woman I was dating at the time.

So when they were travelling, I wanted to honour them by taking great care of their plants—their flowers, their cumquats, their shrubbery—and their dog.

When we recognize how God has been so good to us, so generous in providing all that we need…and in many cases more…and how he has offered himself to us in Jesus Christ, by laying down his life on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven and we could be restored to him, part of the way we can express our gratitude to him is by caring for this earth that he so deeply loves.

In Genesis we read how God created the earth, and in the final book of the scriptures in Revelation, we read about how God will renew the earth. Of course, there are many people who don’t even believe in God who really care for the earth, but those of us who are followers of Christ have the greatest motivation to care for God’s green earth.

In certain times throughout history there have been Christians who have not taken good care of the earth because they have misread scripture, and believed that it would one day be destroyed and replaced. There are Christians who have believed that one day God would take Christians from the earth and the rest of the world would be “left behind” and destroyed. If the earth would come to an end, they reasoned, there is no point in worrying about trying to stop polluting the planet.

You treat the earth very differently if you believe one day, perhaps soon, it will pushed off a cliff, than if you believe it is going to be renewed by God and used as our everlasting home.

In Revelation 21: 5, we read: 5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." God here is not saying “I am making all new things,” but instead, “I am making all things new.” God is not saying, “I am making all new things, but I am making things new.”

The scriptures do not teach that one day the world will be obliterated or just absorbed into the nothingness of the universe as some religions teach, but this earth according to Romans and Revelation will one day be redeemed and made new and restored.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read:

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Here Paul says if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. We know that when Paul writes these words he does not mean that when a person gives their life to Christ, God completely obliterates them and then creates a new person; we know that when a person gives their life to Christ much of who they are in terms of appearance and personality traits remain the same. When a person is made new in Christ, it means that the Spirit of God fills them and renews them. The language that is used of a person being made new in Christ is the same language that is used in Revelation of the earth being made new.

If our current world will be renewed at the coming of Christ, then as respected theologian N.T. Wright says, our care for God’s earth is not simply a way to make life on earth a more bearable place until the day we leave it behind altogether, but every act of caring God’s earth will all find its way into the new creation that God will one day make. Our care for the earth is a way of building God’s Kingdom.

Michelangelo’s frescoes in Sistine Chapel in Rome have become mired in grime, soot, and pollution across the centuries so that colours of the paintings had faded and some of the detail lost. A team of art conservators worked together to clean, restore, and preserve these priceless frescoes across two decades during 80’s and 90s. We are called by God to restore and preserve his masterpiece of our planet.

So what can we do practically to honour God by representing God on Earth and work care for and restore his creation?

At this time I want to invite Brent Chamberlain, a PHD student in forestry at UBC, who will be going to Brazil to map preservation areas, to come forward. I have asked him to share how he and his wife Andrea live out their Christian faith by caring for God’s green earth:

Complimentary Piece by Brent Chamberlain

When I look back I think my passion to conserve and manage forests in sustainable ways stems from my fascination with trees as a child. It’s strange though as I reflect on it because 7 years ago when I graduated from university with business and computer science degrees I was not intending to head down this path. But after working a couple years in industry I found myself feeling like I needed to integrate my life more fully with God’s creation.

I am now a couple years away from earning a Ph.D and have had opportunities to work in Brazil mapping permanent preservation areas in the Amazon and engage in a special research project where a group of us are working with UBC and Greenest City Alliance for the City of Vancouver to recommend ways that these organizations can better enable students and citizens to live more ecologically-sound lives.

In the past few years I have seen amazing places like the Serengeti in Kenya, the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Iguazu Falls in Brazil. But I have also seen magical places damaged by our impact including the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic from Prince George to Kelowna and the destruction of the forests in the Amazon. All of these experiences have brought me to realize that the whole of humanity, regardless of faith or culture want to live in harmony with nature and that I want to facilitate that effort…it is just that many of us don’t know how or chose not to.

Andrea too has seen much of this degradation as well as the magical beauty. Some of you may have seen her paintings hanging in the foyer in the east hall many months ago. One way she shares these experiences and love for creation is through art.

Over the last five years Andrea and I have tried our best to align our lives with what our faith tells us about stewardship. This has meant some dramatic changes, but I can assure you that these changes have exposed us to more wonders of creation and created a greater sense of thankfulness for God’s incredible craftsmanship.

For instance, I am thankful for the car we own. We do use it – sparingly – and typically to visit family south of the border. However, our primary form of (when people hear transit in Vancouver they think public transit) transportation is by bike, sun, rain and for me even snow! I think last year Andrea took the bus to work fewer than 10 times and I drove her fewer than that. If someone would have asked us 5 years ago we never would have imagined something this extreme! In fact Andrea didn’t even have a bike until 2006.

A couple years ago we took a two week vacation and cycled from Oregon to Southern California along the coast. This trip challenged and strengthened our relationship, but it also grew our faith and required that we place a lot of trust in God and one another. Through that experience I have learned the joy in slowing down and appreciating the subtleties in nature that can so often be missed in a car.

In terms of consumption we try our best to apply the three R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle. As hokey as it is, it makes sense. My travels have shown me how truly wealthy I am. As our wealth has increased, we also do our best to gain understanding in how to use it according to God’s will. His means that for each purchase we make, we do our best to be mindful of how it will impact people and the environment. In many cases we just choose not to purchase at all.

Now, there are some cases when you just really don’t want to go with without. Take toilet paper for example. I think most of us here would recognize that this is a pretty relevant and important part of our daily lives. If it’s not you may want to think about adding more beans to your diet. Depending upon the brand you buy, there can be huge environmental repercussions. Andrea and I have chosen to go with products that are made from recycled paper and to use them sparingly.

On the other end of the spectrum of consumer goods the engagement ring I bought for Andrea has a white sapphire. We chose a sapphire because it avoided many of the political and philosophical issues we have with the diamond trade. It has given us great opportunities to share our thoughts on environmental and social justice. And besides, we wanted people to see our marriage not by the color and clarity of the rock, but rather in the color and clarity of our love for one another.

Another way my faith and understanding of creation care aligns with my daily life through what I choose to eat. Perhaps the most dramatic lifestyle change I have undergone was when Andrea proposed that we eliminate all meat from our diet. After returning from Brazil over a year ago, we decided to give the “no meat” idea a try for three months – it has stuck since. During that time we explored new recipes, new foods, and researched the ethics of industrial meat production, including reading Harvest for Hope by Jane Goodall. We also spent time with friends trying out new meals and buying locally grown products from the winter farmers market. This was such a bonding time and was a great way to encourage healthy accountability.

Being exposed to this alternative diet made me appreciate the amazing variety of foods that God has given us. I can assure you all that it really doesn’t take that much or any meat to sustain incredibly healthy lives and that if we significantly reduce our meat consumption we can make lasting impacts on the ecosystem. One of the things I remember reading during our three month trial was that it takes13,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilo of red meat and in general that 50% of the grain produced in the world goes directly to animal feed. I just kept thinking to myself that if I cut meat out altogether and others did the same, we could dramatically change our footprint on earth and as my wife says, we would make a whole lot more animals a whole lot happier.

I have never liked seafood myself, but Andrea loves it. It was shocking to learn that globally ¾ all fish stocks in the world are exhausted, depleted or endangered. It may be hard for many of you to eliminate seafood as well, so if you are someone who eats fish or sushi, we have printed out a few “pocket guides” and they are available in the back that explain what fish are more sustainable to consume and which ones you should stay away from. I would invite you to take a look and take one home with you.

I would guess that for most of us here, we can reduce our carbon footprint through alternative forms of transportation like the bus, train or bike. We can change our diet and in general, buy less stuff. Even today, our dollar is buying the products and degrading the land of those unable to defend it. That’s one of the reasons Andrea and I try to buy fair-trade or organic products. I want to have some assurance that what I buy is not negatively impacting the poor who are harvesting it. As a Christian I find it vital to educate myself about the consequences of my actions on creation and people around the world. This resonates with me because it requires forgoing some luxuries if it means extending compassion just a Christ did for me.

Each person here can make a difference and I would stress that these changes should start incrementally, but like Andrea and I, you may find yourself making more transformative changes to your life as you realize the joy you receive by living a life that cares for creation. I also know that doing this provides opportunities to share why you have made these changes. As Christians we have an amazing opportunity to witness Christ’s redeeming spirit by living a life that cares for creation by renewing the earth. I can attest that as Andrea and I have changed our lifestyles we have found greater enjoyment through the things that can be infinitely renewable – creativity, joy, love and relationship all of which tie in beautifully with creation care.


Beginning to caring for God’s green earth can begin with small steps: as Brent talked about we can walk or bike (when we can) instead of driving (it’s ironic some of us will drive 20 minutes to the gym round trip and get on walker for 20 minutes); if we have to drive simply making sure our tires are properly filled can enable to consume less gas (In people in Canada and the US simply had the right amount of air in their tires we would save an estimated 40 million liters of gas is saved per day); turning the lights and appliances off (phantom power electricity used when an appliance is not in use can cut our electricity consumption by up to 25%); and as we progress we take bigger and make sacrifices to care for our earth….

Taking care of God’s green earth as Brent has said will take sacrifice, but we also know as we look to Christ that it is through a sacrifice that the world is saved.

We know that in the economy of God, as we give, we receive. As we spend less time consuming things, we will find we connect more with God’s earth, with other people who are made in his image, and the one who created it.

So as followers of Christ, let’s lead the way in caring the earth because this is our Father’s world.

Madde for Relationship (Oct 18, 09)

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CREATION M1 SERMON NOTES OCTOBER 18, 2009

Ken Shigematsu and Mardi Dolfo-Smith

Made for Relationship

Text: Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:18-25

Big Idea: Being made in the image of God means that we are made for relationship.

My older sister works in business, my younger two sisters teach (one is a guidance counselor at a high school, the other teaches literature at a university). My younger brother has worked as a radio broadcaster and as an actor and is now back at school, pursuing a graduate school that will give him the option to teach. I work as a pastor—a vocation that combines some organizational leadership and teaching.

A few years ago as part of our staff retreat, we explored our family trees (as a kind of get to know you exercise). I discovered that on my mom’s side as far back as I could go her ancestors were business people… I found out that on my dad’s side I found at that if you go back far enough his ancestors were teachers (they were Samurai who offered counsel to the Samurai Lord and taught Confucius ethics and literature to the clan (father son, father, father son, father as far back as you can go).

So, I reflected on the fact each my siblings is in business or teaching and I was in a work that combines some organizational leadership and some teaching. I feel we are doing what is in our nature-- what’s in our DNA.

As we look back on our first ancestors Adam and Eve we will discover what is in our nature-- what is in our DNA.

Today we begin a new series looking at creation from texts in Genesis and Revelation. We will explore what it means to be a human being… and what our destiny is.

TEXTS: Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2:18-25

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created human beings in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:18-25: 18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam [a] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [b] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [c] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman,'
for she was taken out of man."

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

In Genesis 1:26 we read that God says let us make human beings in our image.

If you read Genesis 1 carefully, you may notice that throughout the entire creation account God is referred to in the singular. God is referred to as either “God” or “He.”

(The use of the pronoun “He” is of course a metaphor. Moses the author of Genesis is using what theologians call anthropomorphic language; i.e., language that attributes human characteristics to God so that we can understand something of who God is in terms we understand. God is neither a “he” nor a “she.” God transcends gender. As we see later in Genesis 1:27, we human beings most completely reflect the image of God through a combination of male and female.)

When we come to Genesis 1:26 where God creates human beings, God changes the way he describes himself. God has been describing himself in the singular, but when he talks about making human beings in his image (in the image of God), God uses the plural “us” to describe himself. God changes the way he refers to himself when he talks about making human beings in his image. Some scholars have argued that when God says “us,” he is referring to the “Royal We.” Sometimes ancient monarchs would refer to themselves in the plural (but don’t see this “royal we” used anywhere else in Scripture). Other scholars believe that when God says “us” God is addressing the angels and the heavenly court. Other scholars believe that God is referring to the community of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (show Rublev’s Trinity icon). But no matter what view you take, we know from later passages of Scripture that God exists in a community of the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit and with the angels as well. Darrell Johnson says, “At the centre of the universe is a relationship.”

A great mystery is that God is one, but God is also a community. God is one, but God is also a Father; he is also a Son (Jesus Christ); he is also the Holy Spirit, and God relates to angelic beings as well.

When God says let us make human beings in our image, part of what God is saying is that we humans, like God, are designed to live in community, in relationship--it’s in our nature, it’s in our DNA.

If all this sounds a little too abstract and theoretical, there is concrete evidence in Genesis 1 that we were made for relationship. God has been creating the world and he has been saying that all that he has made is good. God created the light and said it was good. He created the ground and the seas and called it good. God created vegetation, the plants and trees, and said, “These are good.” God separated the light from the darkness, and said, “This is good.” God created all kinds of creatures in the sea and all kinds of birds, and said it was good. God created all kinds of animals, and said it was good.

And then God looked at the entirety of his creation, and said (in vs. 31) it was very good.

But then God says something in his creation is not good. He says, “It is not good that man is alone.” (Genesis 2:18).

This is a breath-taking assertion because Adam seems to have the ideal life. He has an extraordinary relationship with God: It is transparent and intimate and has not been tainted by sin. Adam also enjoys fulfilling, high impact, work. He also has a great blue-collar job as a farmer cultivating land that is fertile and incredibly responsive. He has a great white-collar job as a zoologist and taxonomist, as he names different animals. He is surrounded by a beautiful paradise. Adam is surrounded by extraordinary beauty. He has great food in the Garden of Eden.

And yet, in spite of all this, God says, concerning Adam, “It is not good that you are alone.” And so, what God is saying, in effect, is that you can have a great relationship with God, great work, live in a place of great beauty, have great food, great coffee, but if you don’t have someone in your life, if you don’t have a human being in your life, something is going to be missing because were made for relationship---it’s in our nature; it’s in our DNA.

It is possible to come to a place like Vancouver and re-create the Garden of Eden: have a relationship with God, pursue a good education, have a great job, be surrounded by natural beauty, have great food, but if we are not in a significant relationship with some other human being (I am not necessarily referring to a romantic relationship), something will be missing because were made for relationship--it’s in our nature; it’s in our DNA.

In June The Atlantic featured an article entitled What Makes Us Happy? The article presented a rare longitudinal study where researchers at Harvard have been following 268 men who entered Harvard College in the late 1930s (which has lasted over 70 years and just by coincidence John F Kennedy was in this class). They tracked them through their experiences of war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood, and grandparenthood, and old age. One of the things that surprised these ambitious, elite men, (now in their early nineties) as they looked back over their lives, was the fact that it wasn’t their careers or their visible achievements that brought them the most satisfaction, but it was their families and friendships.

We give lip service about how important relationships are, and as we look back, many of us consider our most joyous memories are with family or close friends over meals, but we often don’t put a lot of energy and investment in this area of lives. The irony is that we can create a “Garden of Eden” for ourselves by putting relationships on the “back burner.” But, without those relationships there will be something very significant missing in our lives because it’s in our nature to be in relationships--it’s in our DNA.

If you don’t have a few significant, flourishing relationships in your life, is there something you can do to invest in those relationships?

God said it is not good for man to be alone. What does God do next? He brings the animals to Adam. None of them are suitable companions, not even the monkey, the dolphin or the Golden Retriever. Why do you think God, who is always loving, and who says it is not good for man to be alone, and then brings him the animals instead of a human being?

Professor Bruce Waltke, an Old Testament scholar, points out that God makes Adam wait for Eve so he will fully appreciate this gift. He makes Adam wait so he realizes that Eve, this fellow human being, is his most precious gift in all creation. When God finally brings Eve to Adam, Adam breaks out in song: “Bone of my bone! Flesh of my flesh! She shall be called woman for she came from the man.” Adam rejoices over this precious gift that God has given him. He is singing over her. Adam rejoices over this most precious gift that God has given him.

When God says it is not good for man to be alone and brings him Eve, God affirms marriage. I recently saw the movie Away We Go. In this film the main characters (show photo) Verona (May Rudolf Saturday Night Live) and Burt (John Krasinski of The Office) are going to have a baby. They love each other and are deeply committed to each other. Burt wants to get married, but Verona doesn’t. She’s not sure why (though Burt has a theory). She doesn’t ever want to get married. There are people today who never want to get married (even though they are truly “committed” to someone). But, here in Genesis God affirms marriage as something good he created.

Now when God affirms marriage, God is not necessarily saying it is God’s will for everyone to be married. In the New Testament part of the Bible we see through Paul’s teaching that the single life is desirable and, practically, spiritual and advantageous in many ways. The only perfect person to walk the face of the earth, Jesus Christ, was single.

When God says it is not good for man to be alone, it means it is not good for us to be without another person…that when we are alone, we are not complete. We are only complete only in a relationship. The African concept of ubuntu speaks to this idea. Ubuntu means we cannot exist in isolation, but only as interconnected beings: “I am because we are.” We were created in the image of a relational God and were we made for relationships--it’s in our DNA.

(transition)

We made for relationship, it’s in our DNA, but there is something that can isolate us from relationships.

In Genesis 2:25 we read these beautiful words: 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Before Adam and Eve chose to sin in Garden of Eden by choosing to live independently of God, they were not just physically naked in each other’s presence and felt no shame…they were also naked in every other way. They were completely themselves with each other. They were free to be completely transparent with each other, in what they were thinking and feeling.

We were made to reveal the truth of who we are with God and with each other. But because of the choice that we human beings have made to turn from God, which the Bible calls sin, and because of the radioactive effects of sin in our lives, we feel shame before God and each other. Instead of revealing who we really are, instead of using our ability to communicate…to demonstrate our true selves…we tend to use words to spin an image that we want to portray about ourselves, an image that we hope will be accepted. Have you ever exaggerated or distorted a story to make you look better? Or pretended that you knew the meaning of a word in a conversation when you didn’t because you were too embarrassed to ask the meaning of the word or you acted like you had seen a movie or knew a song because everyone seemed to be familiar with the movie or song just so you could fit in?

One of the problems with this, of course, is that if we spin an image of ourselves and we are accepted by someone, we will always wonder whether the person accepts us or the image we have spun. There will be a sense of disconnect because we are not sure whether the other is connecting with us, or an image that we are projecting with the person.

Part of the reason why it is difficult to achieve real connection and intimacy with people and with God is because we feel this sense of the shame. One of the ways we can relate to God and people in a more real and free way is by knowing that we are significant because we know we are loved by our Maker.

At this time I am going to invite my colleague, our senior associate pastor, Mardi Dolfo-Smith, to come and share how we can experience this sense of significance as those who have been created by God.

What makes us Valuable?

We live in a culture that values us for our assets – our looks, our money, our brains, skill, talents and relational connections. The truth is that often we value ourselves based on these things – unfortunately there will always be someone smarter, thinner and richer than us! Ken has been talking about a human tendency to “spin an image of ourselves” – to make ourselves look better than we are. We tend to do this unconsciously when we see our own limitations, our weakness and brokenness – When we feel shame at our lack and try to hide this by– projecting a false self – making ourselves look better than we are. Covering ourselves with the proverbial “fig leaf”.

I grew up in an environment where perfection was expected – we were expected to be well rounded – good at sports, academics and artistic pursuits, kind to each other, our friends and neighbours – never anger, never selfish, never irritable, never.

It didn’t take long for me to realize my own limitations: I was great at math – and could excel at a subject that many found difficult – I even had people lining up at my door in residence for help in calculus– but ask me to analyze the theme of a poem or draw a picture ..

I could excel on a volleyball or basketball team, but you don’t want me to sing in your choir.

I made friends easily, but dealing with conflicts and disappointments in friendships were really hard for me.

Sometimes I was angry, sometimes I was selfish..

I lived in a constant state of feeling inadequate – if I wasn’t able to achieve in everything – then I wondered whether I was a valuable or worthwhile person.

Can you take a few seconds now to think of a time when you questioned your value?

That happened for me. If I ever made a mistake, or hurt someone’s feelings, or got angry with a friend, I felt incredible shame. I dealt with a fair amount of self hatred and regularly reminded myself of how worthless I was.

As I began to develop my relationship with God through the help of a spiritual mentor– God began to speak to me, as I read the Bible and as I prayed.

God spoke to me about where my value comes from

– I had a growing awareness that God had created me with strengths and talents – that he had a purpose for me - but these strengths were not what made me valuable,

That God had also created me with areas of weakness, and I had many areas of brokenness – but these did not decrease my value.

The truth began to hit me - my worth was not based on my assets…

it was based on the fact that I was a child of God. God had created me and God loved me. Loved me even more than my earthly parents.

Through my relationship with God and through the support of my mentor – I began to absorb this new identity as God’s child and my self-hatred began to decrease

– I stopped – the negative self talk and began to truly be able to face my weaknesses and my faults without feeling hatred for myself

Becoming a mother – developed a whole new area for me to examine – I think that I found mothering both fulfilling and revealing – it revealed my lacks but it also revealed a new side of love for me and gave me new insight into the love of God, our creator.

As I grew to know my children – I noticed that they too had strengths, incredible strengths and weaknesses – glaring weaknesses – some of them like my own – some of them like my husband’s, and some all their own.

But I also noticed that when I observed these weaknesses – they actually didn’t change my love for my kids. I could actually look upon their weaknesses with a rueful affection.

They were my children, in some sense I’d made them, they’d come from me and I had a kind of grace for them that I didn’t have for anyone else - even my parents or siblings or husband.

It gave me new insight into God the Father/ mother’s love for me, for all of us. God, who created us, is not surprised by our strengths and weaknesses; he does not love us because of our amazing talent nor despise or dismiss us because of out brokenness.

God even continues to look at us with love and affection despite our flaws.

In fact, God, our heavenly father loves us even more, than we as parents love our children, or we as children are loved by our parents. King David the psalmist reminded us of God’s great love for us in Psalm 27 when he wrote– “though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.”

When my youngest son was 3 – he looked at me one day and said, “You guys really love me.” What he said was true, but what thrilled me that he actually experienced our great affection towards him. It’s God’s desire that we, in the deepest place, know that kind of love from God our creator.

What would that be like for us to live in the truth that we are deeply loved?

God longs for us to know that truth – that he really loves us. Not because of what we can do for him or how good and kind we are… he loves us because he is our parent – our father/our mother.

We can truly rest in the fact that we are valuable because we have been created by a loving God. Resting in this love is the beginning – the first thing we need. As we grow to deeply know the love of God, out of this comes our love for God and our love for others. It is God’s love, God’s kindness, God’s grace that enables us to turn towards God and to depend on God.

God’s love is creative and it’s redemptive. It’s based on God’s goodness and not our own.

Experiencing God’s love and acceptance, also enable me to love my friends and family– I have been better able to love and accept others, I have also been able to be more honest with friends - peeling off layers of hiddenness and to become unashamed before them.

God has specifically used marriage to do this for me. It’s hard to be with someone day in and day out for 20 years and them not to see your flaws, your mistakes your weakness. When we were first married – and we had a fight – or I messed up – I kept expecting that to be the end of things – but it wasn’t – Toni kept forgiving me – and I him.

We’ve gone through amazingly great times, and times when we are amazingly disappointed with the other – but God’s love for us has enabled us to see the truth about ourselves, and the other and when we see that truth – to continue to love and forgive.

For me staying stuck in hiddenness – hiding my weaknesses and brokenness did not essentially enable me to see myself as God saw me. Depending on my assets to give me a sense of value – was very limiting.

Engaging with God, bringing all that I am before him – my strengths, my weakness, my sin and brokenness, enabled me to experience God’s love and acceptance. I was loved beyond my assets and my deficits and in turn enabled me to walk away from self hatred. It gave me the courage to engage in real relationship with my friends – allowing them the opportunity to see the real me- offering them an opportunity to honest with me as well – learning to forgive and care for one another.

When we understand in our hearts that we are wholly loved by God—and we see this love most powerfully demonstrated to us through his death on the cross for our sins in the person of Jesus Christ--we can experience healing for our sense of shame and relate to God and people in ways are that are more real, honest, caring, and forgiving.

And will discover that this is what we were made for. We were made for relationship--it’s in our nature; it’s in our DNA.

Prayer and question:

Is there a relationship you are being called to invest in and prioritize in? Pray about this.

Do you need to experience healing from shame? If so, pray you would receive a new sense of God’s love for you.

Soaring with Grace (Oct 04, 2009)

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ACTS M7 Sermon Notes DRAFT October 4, 2009

TEXT: Acts 4:32-37

TITLE: Soaring with Grace

BIG IDEA: When we are generous, we experience the soaring grace of God.

Beth Allinger (tribute )

Moses Pulei is a man I know who is from the Maasai people of Kenya, Africa. When he first visited North America’s Deep South, he went to a restaurant for breakfast. He didn’t know what to order, so the waitress suggested bacon and eggs. When his breakfast came, there were bacon and eggs and some pale mushy stuff on the side of the plate. He pointed to the mushy stuff and asked, “What is this?” The waitress said, “Them grits.” Moses asks, “What are grits?” She says, “They just come.”

That’s the way it is with the grace of God. Like grits, grace “just comes.”

The early church spread like wildfire in its world because it experienced much grace… or much favour from God.

And grace “just comes.”

We see that this grace of God manifesting itself in the lives of the early church as they were radically generously, and as they were generous… they experienced more of God--the grace that “just comes,” or in the words Eugene Petersen more of “soaring grace.”

We see this upward cycle of grace played out in Acts 4:32-37.

If you have your Bibles, please turn to Acts 4:32.

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement"), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

In verse 32 we read “all the believers were one in heart and mind.” This seems like a simple statement, but it is remarkable when you think that in Acts 4 we read the church now numbered at least 5000 men (and when you add women and children, that number grows to 15 or 20 thousand), but it is an international community composed of people from around the world. God’s grace is evident as the early church lived as a united community.

We also read in our text how shockingly generous the early church was. “No one claimed any of their possessions as their own, but they shared everything they had.” (These words that describe the radically generous sharing of the early church first appear in Acts 2:44 and 45, and we read again in Acts 4:32)

And then in verses 33-35 we read: “33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”

Some people have read these words about how the early church held everything in common with a sense of alarm. Some people are so afraid that this radical sharing might encourage us to adopt a communist (or a socialist) agenda that they actually dismiss these verses by saying that the early church made a mistake in not claiming that their possessions were their own.

But Luke makes it very clear in the Book of Acts that this radical lifestyle of generosity was simply the supernatural result of the Holy Spirit being poured out in a person’s life.

The early church acknowledged that Christ owned them, as well as their possessions.

Tertullian the early church father in the second century wrote:

Though we have our offerings, it is not made up of purchase-money, as of a religion that has its price. These gifts are . . . not spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the needs of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; or are shut up in the prisons… But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another

God’s grace was powerfully at work in the life of the early church and they freely gave to one another. And, as they gave, more grace was poured out to them.

The church fathers tell this story… of two brothers who shared a field and a mill, and at the end of each day they divided the grain they had ground together during the day exactly in half. One brother was single; the other had a wife and a large family.

Now, the single brother thought to himself one day, “It isn't fair that we divide the grain evenly. I have only myself to care for, but my brother has children to feed. I will give him a gift of grain, but if I do so his face will fall in shame.” So each night he secretly took some of his grain to his brother's granary to see that he was never without.

But the married brother said to himself one day, "It isn't really fair that we divide the grain evenly, because I have children to provide for me in my old age, but my brother has no one who will care for him in his old age. I will give him a gift of grain, but his face will fall in shame.” So every night he secretly took some of his grain to his brother's granary.

Then one night under the light of a full moon they met each other halfway between their two houses. They suddenly realized what had been happening and embraced each other in love.

God witnessed their meeting and proclaimed, "This is a holy place and I am pleased to dwell here.

As we receive God’s grace, we give, and as we give we experience more of God’s soaring grace because God is pleased to dwell in a community where people give selflessly.

Even when we are not intending to give, even when we fall into giving by accident, we can experience God’s blessing and grace.

A story a little closer to home Robin Shope shares how she was at garage sale, and she found under a pile of old bedspreads a shiny saxophone. It was vintage, in pristine condition, and selling for $20.

Not being a musician and unfamiliar with the going rate for instruments, she was a little worried, $20 poorer, and the proud owner of a shiny saxophone that might not sell. As she was leaving, an elderly man stopped her. "Can I buy that saxophone from you?" he asked hopefully. "I'll give you $20 more than whatever you paid."

She was thrilled. She thought, “I'd not only recoup my 20 dollars, I'd make 20 more—and within minutes of my purchase.”

[Later that day she said] I sat at the computer, pulled up the eBay homepage, and entered the type of saxophone I'd owned for less than five minutes. To my horror, three exact matches popped up, all selling for over $500.

It was done. Finished. No chance for a do-over. Yet I couldn't let it go. Late at night I sat sleepless, angry with myself… My brain kept replaying the moment I sold the sax, while a bitter little voice whispered that the old man had probably pawned it off.

A few months later as I was perusing a garage sale, I spied my sax buyer hunched over a box, sifting through old sheet music. Feeling the old twinge of regret, I pretended not to see him. But he recognized me and cheerfully called out, "Hello there! Have you found any treasures today?"

"No." …

[And] as I turned to walk away, he caught hold of my arm. "I want you to know that because of you, I rekindled my old passion for the saxophone. Being retired, I now volunteer my time to teach kids how to play." He wiggled his fingers over the keys of an invisible sax. It was then I noticed his frailty, his worn clothes, and his scuffed shoes.

And suddenly I understood. I thought he'd stolen my blessing, when in fact he was my blessing.”

It is a blessing to give, even to fall into giving by accident.

A few weeks ago, I shared stories from our own group community here at Tenth who have experienced the blessing of giving and receiving: stories of small group members helping each other move, bringing food to people who were out of work, comforting each other as members lost a baby or a loved one.

A few weeks ago we looked at what it means to give to each other in our local context. (I hope and pray you experience the joy and grace of giving to people who are right around you. We have a ministry fair right after this service in the Upper East Hall with some amazing ministries many of which are focused on local needs and opportunities).

But, in today’s message, I want to make the shift and explore what it would look to live generously with our global context in mind.

In the book of Acts we see how the early church was generous to people locally as people sold their property and gave to those in need and generous globally and received offerings to support needy people in distant places.

In Acts 13 we read about the church in Antioch. It was an urban, multi-ethnic church (As some of you would know, the church in Antioch has been a model at Tenth.) During one of the gatherings at the church in Antioch, according to Acts 11: 28-30:

28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the believers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

So we see here members of the early church, as each one was able, providing help for their sisters and brothers living in another part of their world.

As we experience the “soaring grace of God,” like the early church we give generously to those around us, and as we are able, to needy people in some distant place even more of …

I mentioned earlier, in Acts 4 we read that no-one in the early church regarded their possessions as their own. In Acts 11 we read that the followers of Christ in Antioch, each according to their ability, provided help for their destitute brother and sisters living in Judea.

How do we become this generous?

We become this generous by recognizing first, through the help of God’s Spirit working in us, that we do not belong to ourselves, but to God, and that all we possess belongs not to ourselves, but to God. This radical perspective (in a capitalist society) can only be inspired in us as the Spirit of God works in us.

According to the scriptures, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50). A poetic way of saying God owns everything. According to Psalm 24, “The earth and everything in it belongs to God.” God simply entrusts us with resources and gifts, in the same way we might entrust our money to a stockbroker. Now this is a radical idea because it means we do not rightfully own what we have—it is God’s. Therefore, we are called, like a stockbroker, to use our gifts, our money, and our resources, in ways that would honour the owner.

A second way we can become this generous is by becoming aware of the significant resources each of us has been entrusted with.

In the early church many were destitute, but people gave generously based on their ability to do so. In Acts 4 we read that there were no needy persons among them because from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money from the sales and put them at the apostles’ feet. This was distributed to anyone who had need. In Acts 11we read that the believers in the church at Antioch gave to the impoverished brothers and sisters in Judea, according to their ability.

Most of us in Canada and most of here would not describe ourselves as wealthy, but here’s the good news…. by world standards we are wealthy. The bad news: four out of ten people in the world (2.6 billion) live on less than $2.00 a day (PROP: Toonie)

If you earn $25, 000 a year, you are wealthier than 90% of the people in the world. (top 10%)

If you make $50,000 a year, you are wealthier than 99% of the world. (top 1%)

You are in the top 1%. If you own a car, even if it is an old rusted out clunker (Pinto?), you may not feel rich but 93% of the world’s people doesn’t even own a car. If you have access to a computer with the internet, you are ahead of 93% of the world.

So most of us here by world standards are doing pretty well. And even if you are earning less than $2 a day, let’s say you are a student, the difference between you and the truly poor of the world is that you have choices. Most of us here have some kind of potential to generate income. But many of the poor in the developing world don’t have that option. For most of the poorest people in the world their hard work doesn’t make a difference as it does for us because they are trapped in a web of social and economic system that does not reward their labor.

Many people—NOT all (some people in North America are also trapped in a cycle of poverty)—but for many people in North America can be successful if they have gifts and are prepared to work hard. The people in the developing world often don’t have that opportunity.

Part of the way we can experience the soaring grace of generosity like the early church is by recognizing that we are stockbrokers for God; second, by being aware of our relative wealth; and, third, by responding to God’s call for us to give. According to scriptures in texts like Malachi, the starting point for giving for those who of us follow God is the tithe (i.e., to offer the first tenth of our income to God). When we tithe, we are saying in this symbolic act that we believe that all of our income belongs to God.

One of the most helpful things that I was taught as a new follower of Christ was to offer the first tenth of my income to God. It wasn’t hard for me to do as a teenager because I hardly made any money. When my wife Sakiko became a new believer in her twenties, working as an editor at Newsweek magazine, she was making a very good salary. When she heard her pastor speak on Bible tithing, the idea came as a jolt to her at first, but then she learned the joy of giving.

When I have spoken on giving, some of you asked me (usually in hushed tones) what my giving practice is. Let me just share that with you. Since becoming a follower of Christ, I’ve been committed to tithing to my local church. When we were doing our building campaign, Sakiko and I were committed to tithing to this church (offering the first tenth), and then to giving above and beyond our tithe so that part could help replace the original sanctuary with a new East Hall which had become deteriorated to the point that we had to shut it down. God enabled us to fulfill our pledge. Since we at Tenth have completed the building and paid it down, Sakiko and I will continue to tithe here. We are also committed to giving over and above our tithe to another Christian organization that works with poor children around the world. It is our joy to do that.

Tithing is the starting point and it simply means we give the first Tenth to the work of God, whether it’s through local church, mission, or to the poor...

For many in the world their philosophy, when it comes to money, is “make all you can, can all you get, and sit on the can.” John Wesley was a very prominent minister in the 18th century. He was the founder of the Methodist Church and his motto was “make all you can, save all you can, and give all you can…” he truly lived this out. He figured out what he needed to live on modestly… lived on it and gave the rest away. John Wesley back in the 18th century had rock star status--he made a good living from his speaking and books, but he gave it nearly all away. He donated nearly all of the 30,000 pounds he earned in his lifetime (which was a fortune back in his day). He once wrote, "If I leave behind me ten pounds you and all mankind [can] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber."

If Christians in North America raised their level of giving to a simple a tithe which is 10 percent (John Wesley had a habit of giving 80% of his income away. He was married, but no kids), which is the standard starting point for believers in Scripture, it could make an enormous difference in the world.

Richard Stearns, one of the World Vision presidents, made the observation that if Christians in North America (the US and Canada) simply tithed, then we would have almost an EXTRA $200 billion dollars available for God’s work around the world.

(To put that in perspective, we spend about 800 billion dollars in the US and Canada on entertainment and recreation). (Can the powerpoint slides on the following… come out progressively point by point, but so that ONE slide is “filled out” with this data in the end?)

If Christians in North America (the US and Canada) simply tithed, then we would have an EXTRA $200 billion dollars available for God’s work around the world.

* we could bring an end to world hunger;
* solve the clean water crises;
* provide universal access to medical care for millions suffering from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis;
* virtually eliminate more the 26,000 daily child deaths (Bono—where a child is born should not determine IF a child lives);
* guarantee education for all the world’s children;
* provide a safety net for the world’s tens of millions of orphans.



If you are here and you still exploring the possibility of belief in God, tithing is not something that you are obligated to do. God calls his followers to tithe. You are not under that particular call, but it’s good for you to hear this because tithing of part of what God will call you to do once you give your life to him. But, living a life of compassion and generosity, as the Dali Lama has noted, is a great gift, so if you do not believe in God, why not consider giving to some organization that does good in the world. It may not be a Christian organization, but some movement that helps to alleviate the poverty and suffering of people somewhere in the world.

Something else we might consider as we seek to become people whose generosity reflects God’s grace to the world is to consider sponsoring a child.

In the movie About Schmidt, Jack Nicholson plays the role of a man named Warren Schmidt (show slide). He retires from a vice president's job at an insurance company, he’s wealthy, but looks back on a meaningless life, and ahead to a meaningless retirement.

One day, while watching television, Warren sees an opportunity to sponsor an underprivileged child in Tanzania. Warren responds to the appeal, and throughout the movie he faithfully sends the $22 a month.

On one occasion after a long road trip, Warren comes home to an empty house. He reluctantly walks in with an armload of impersonal junk mail.

Warren ambles up the stairs and looks disappointedly at the disheveled state of his bedroom. Throughout this scene, the audience hears Warren's voice-over narration of a letter he recently composed to 6 year old boy Ndugu he sponsors. He pours out his intense feeling of emptiness in this letter:

“I know we're all pretty small in the scheme of things, and I guess the best you can hope for is to make some kind of difference, but what difference have I made? What in the world is better because of me? I am a failure. There's just no getting around it. Real soon I will die. Maybe 20 years—maybe tomorrow—it doesn't matter. Once I am dead and everyone who knew me dies, it is as though I never existed. What difference has my life made to anyone? None that I can think of. Hope things are fine with you.

Yours Truly, Warren Schmidt.”

At the end of the scene, the depression on Warren's face gives way to wonder as he stares down at a letter from Tanzania. It is a letter from a nun who works in the orphanage where 6-year-old Ndugu lives. She tells Warren that Ndugu thinks of him every day and hopes he is happy. Enclosed is a picture drawn by Ndugu for Warren—two stick people smiling and holding hands under blue sky and the sun. Warren is overcome by the realization that he has made a difference. He lifts his hands to his tired face and cries…

He makes a difference and experiences gratitude and joy.

Something else we might do if we are able, if we want to become people whose generosity reflects God’s grace to the world, is to serve as part of some kind of mission local or global mission (consider visiting the ministry booths). Kevin Knight, a plumber in our community, recently shared about how next year he intends to live among the poorest in Phnom Pen, Cambodia as he serves with Servants for Asia’s Poor (and they will have a table in the back).

Again, you don’t need to be a billionaire to participate in serving the world. A couple of week ago, I shared how Leon a person who works as the shoeshine guy in a tall office building in Seattle provides water filtration systems that make clean water in places like Bolivia massive flooding (and perhaps now in the Philippines?) where the water has been contaminated because of flooding. How does he do it? As he shines shoes and posts pictures on the wall of places in the world that need clean water. Then when the business people, lawyers, and bankers whose shoes he is shining ask about the photos he says, “I’m raising money for a water filtration machines—would you like to help?

A few years ago Raul Hernandez, one of World Vision’s representatives in Florida, responded to a phone call from an elderly woman in Miami who asked if he could come to her apartment to discuss a gift. He wrote this email afterwards:

The apartment complex was located in a poor Latino neighbourhood of Miami. As I knocked at the door, I noticed the humble surroundings. She opened the door. Ana is a wonderful 91-year-young Colombian lady.

“Come in. You are the person who was sent to receive my gift?” She invited me into her humble one-bedroom apartment. No air conditioning.

I was told about her coming to North America in 1954 with her husband, her struggle to raise up her three children, her long working hours to meet the family basic needs... Then she told me about her terrible time of sickness, almost totally paralyzed, strangled by pain, limited by the mercy of others to move her around. Until she met the Lord and his healing power that sustains her until today.

After sharing more stories, she stood up and said, “Let me bring my gift to the children that World Vision is serving.”She went to the night table and brought an envelope to the table where we were seated. She opened the envelope with care as if it was a ceremony of love. She passed me five clipped lumps of twenty-dollar bills. “Count them. Please. I want to be sure I counted correctly.”

I counted them, and it was one thousand dollars. She then said, “I have been saving this for a long time with the intention to give it to for the poor children in the world. Every time someone gave me a gift for my birthday, or for Christmas, or for New Year, I saved it for the poor children. I am so blessed by the Lord that I want to bless those who are less fortunate than me. I sponsor a girl in Columbia. But I was thinking I will soon start my travel to my Celestial Home, to my Father; I need to do something soon on behalf of those suffering children. My prayer I that as Jesus took two fish and five loaves of bread and multiplied them to fed the thousands, that he will do the same with this, my gift. It’s not much, but it is everything I have.”

I was crying inside, such generosity is only possible by the work of the Holy Spirit. I felt I was blessed beyond my imagination. The humid heat of Miami, in this small apartment without air-conditioning, was totally forgotten under the refreshing breeze I felt coming from above as I enjoyed this visit with Ana. I was wondering, as I drove back home, how maybe she is not a “major donor” she is a heavenly donor.

Jesus said (in Matthew 25), “When you gave to the least of my brothers or sisters you gave to me.”

God’s grace came to the early church and they lived a life of generosity locally and globally, and experienced more of God’s soaring grace, and the work of God grew in their world. When we live this way so will we will experience soaring grace and God will say “this is a holy place and I am pleased to dwell here”… and the Kingdom of God will grow in our world.

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ACTS M7 Sermon Notes DRAFT October 4, 2009

TEXT: Acts 4:32-37

TITLE: Soaring with Grace

BIG IDEA: When we are generous, we experience the soaring grace of God.

Beth Allinger (tribute )

Moses Pulei is a man I know who is from the Maasai people of Kenya, Africa. When he first visited North America’s Deep South, he went to a restaurant for breakfast. He didn’t know what to order, so the waitress suggested bacon and eggs. When his breakfast came, there were bacon and eggs and some pale mushy stuff on the side of the plate. He pointed to the mushy stuff and asked, “What is this?” The waitress said, “Them grits.” Moses asks, “What are grits?” She says, “They just come.”

That’s the way it is with the grace of God. Like grits, grace “just comes.”

The early church spread like wildfire in its world because it experienced much grace… or much favour from God.

And grace “just comes.”

We see that this grace of God manifesting itself in the lives of the early church as they were radically generously, and as they were generous… they experienced more of God--the grace that “just comes,” or in the words Eugene Petersen more of “soaring grace.”

We see this upward cycle of grace played out in Acts 4:32-37.

If you have your Bibles, please turn to Acts 4:32.

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement"), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

In verse 32 we read “all the believers were one in heart and mind.” This seems like a simple statement, but it is remarkable when you think that in Acts 4 we read the church now numbered at least 5000 men (and when you add women and children, that number grows to 15 or 20 thousand), but it is an international community composed of people from around the world. God’s grace is evident as the early church lived as a united community.

We also read in our text how shockingly generous the early church was. “No one claimed any of their possessions as their own, but they shared everything they had.” (These words that describe the radically generous sharing of the early church first appear in Acts 2:44 and 45, and we read again in Acts 4:32)

And then in verses 33-35 we read: “33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”

Some people have read these words about how the early church held everything in common with a sense of alarm. Some people are so afraid that this radical sharing might encourage us to adopt a communist (or a socialist) agenda that they actually dismiss these verses by saying that the early church made a mistake in not claiming that their possessions were their own.

But Luke makes it very clear in the Book of Acts that this radical lifestyle of generosity was simply the supernatural result of the Holy Spirit being poured out in a person’s life.

The early church acknowledged that Christ owned them, as well as their possessions.

Tertullian the early church father in the second century wrote:

Though we have our offerings, it is not made up of purchase-money, as of a religion that has its price. These gifts are . . . not spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the needs of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; or are shut up in the prisons… But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another

God’s grace was powerfully at work in the life of the early church and they freely gave to one another. And, as they gave, more grace was poured out to them.

The church fathers tell this story… of two brothers who shared a field and a mill, and at the end of each day they divided the grain they had ground together during the day exactly in half. One brother was single; the other had a wife and a large family.

Now, the single brother thought to himself one day, “It isn't fair that we divide the grain evenly. I have only myself to care for, but my brother has children to feed. I will give him a gift of grain, but if I do so his face will fall in shame.” So each night he secretly took some of his grain to his brother's granary to see that he was never without.

But the married brother said to himself one day, "It isn't really fair that we divide the grain evenly, because I have children to provide for me in my old age, but my brother has no one who will care for him in his old age. I will give him a gift of grain, but his face will fall in shame.” So every night he secretly took some of his grain to his brother's granary.

Then one night under the light of a full moon they met each other halfway between their two houses. They suddenly realized what had been happening and embraced each other in love.

God witnessed their meeting and proclaimed, "This is a holy place and I am pleased to dwell here.

As we receive God’s grace, we give, and as we give we experience more of God’s soaring grace because God is pleased to dwell in a community where people give selflessly.

Even when we are not intending to give, even when we fall into giving by accident, we can experience God’s blessing and grace.

A story a little closer to home Robin Shope shares how she was at garage sale, and she found under a pile of old bedspreads a shiny saxophone. It was vintage, in pristine condition, and selling for $20.

Not being a musician and unfamiliar with the going rate for instruments, she was a little worried, $20 poorer, and the proud owner of a shiny saxophone that might not sell. As she was leaving, an elderly man stopped her. "Can I buy that saxophone from you?" he asked hopefully. "I'll give you $20 more than whatever you paid."

She was thrilled. She thought, “I'd not only recoup my 20 dollars, I'd make 20 more—and within minutes of my purchase.”

[Later that day she said] I sat at the computer, pulled up the eBay homepage, and entered the type of saxophone I'd owned for less than five minutes. To my horror, three exact matches popped up, all selling for over $500.

It was done. Finished. No chance for a do-over. Yet I couldn't let it go. Late at night I sat sleepless, angry with myself… My brain kept replaying the moment I sold the sax, while a bitter little voice whispered that the old man had probably pawned it off.

A few months later as I was perusing a garage sale, I spied my sax buyer hunched over a box, sifting through old sheet music. Feeling the old twinge of regret, I pretended not to see him. But he recognized me and cheerfully called out, "Hello there! Have you found any treasures today?"

"No." …

[And] as I turned to walk away, he caught hold of my arm. "I want you to know that because of you, I rekindled my old passion for the saxophone. Being retired, I now volunteer my time to teach kids how to play." He wiggled his fingers over the keys of an invisible sax. It was then I noticed his frailty, his worn clothes, and his scuffed shoes.

And suddenly I understood. I thought he'd stolen my blessing, when in fact he was my blessing.”

It is a blessing to give, even to fall into giving by accident.

A few weeks ago, I shared stories from our own group community here at Tenth who have experienced the blessing of giving and receiving: stories of small group members helping each other move, bringing food to people who were out of work, comforting each other as members lost a baby or a loved one.

A few weeks ago we looked at what it means to give to each other in our local context. (I hope and pray you experience the joy and grace of giving to people who are right around you. We have a ministry fair right after this service in the Upper East Hall with some amazing ministries many of which are focused on local needs and opportunities).

But, in today’s message, I want to make the shift and explore what it would look to live generously with our global context in mind.

In the book of Acts we see how the early church was generous to people locally as people sold their property and gave to those in need and generous globally and received offerings to support needy people in distant places.

In Acts 13 we read about the church in Antioch. It was an urban, multi-ethnic church (As some of you would know, the church in Antioch has been a model at Tenth.) During one of the gatherings at the church in Antioch, according to Acts 11: 28-30:

28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the believers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

So we see here members of the early church, as each one was able, providing help for their sisters and brothers living in another part of their world.

As we experience the “soaring grace of God,” like the early church we give generously to those around us, and as we are able, to needy people in some distant place even more of …

I mentioned earlier, in Acts 4 we read that no-one in the early church regarded their possessions as their own. In Acts 11 we read that the followers of Christ in Antioch, each according to their ability, provided help for their destitute brother and sisters living in Judea.

How do we become this generous?

We become this generous by recognizing first, through the help of God’s Spirit working in us, that we do not belong to ourselves, but to God, and that all we possess belongs not to ourselves, but to God. This radical perspective (in a capitalist society) can only be inspired in us as the Spirit of God works in us.

According to the scriptures, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50). A poetic way of saying God owns everything. According to Psalm 24, “The earth and everything in it belongs to God.” God simply entrusts us with resources and gifts, in the same way we might entrust our money to a stockbroker. Now this is a radical idea because it means we do not rightfully own what we have—it is God’s. Therefore, we are called, like a stockbroker, to use our gifts, our money, and our resources, in ways that would honour the owner.

A second way we can become this generous is by becoming aware of the significant resources each of us has been entrusted with.

In the early church many were destitute, but people gave generously based on their ability to do so. In Acts 4 we read that there were no needy persons among them because from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money from the sales and put them at the apostles’ feet. This was distributed to anyone who had need. In Acts 11we read that the believers in the church at Antioch gave to the impoverished brothers and sisters in Judea, according to their ability.

Most of us in Canada and most of here would not describe ourselves as wealthy, but here’s the good news…. by world standards we are wealthy. The bad news: four out of ten people in the world (2.6 billion) live on less than $2.00 a day (PROP: Toonie)

If you earn $25, 000 a year, you are wealthier than 90% of the people in the world. (top 10%)

If you make $50,000 a year, you are wealthier than 99% of the world. (top 1%)

You are in the top 1%. If you own a car, even if it is an old rusted out clunker (Pinto?), you may not feel rich but 93% of the world’s people doesn’t even own a car. If you have access to a computer with the internet, you are ahead of 93% of the world.

So most of us here by world standards are doing pretty well. And even if you are earning less than $2 a day, let’s say you are a student, the difference between you and the truly poor of the world is that you have choices. Most of us here have some kind of potential to generate income. But many of the poor in the developing world don’t have that option. For most of the poorest people in the world their hard work doesn’t make a difference as it does for us because they are trapped in a web of social and economic system that does not reward their labor.

Many people—NOT all (some people in North America are also trapped in a cycle of poverty)—but for many people in North America can be successful if they have gifts and are prepared to work hard. The people in the developing world often don’t have that opportunity.

Part of the way we can experience the soaring grace of generosity like the early church is by recognizing that we are stockbrokers for God; second, by being aware of our relative wealth; and, third, by responding to God’s call for us to give. According to scriptures in texts like Malachi, the starting point for giving for those who of us follow God is the tithe (i.e., to offer the first tenth of our income to God). When we tithe, we are saying in this symbolic act that we believe that all of our income belongs to God.

One of the most helpful things that I was taught as a new follower of Christ was to offer the first tenth of my income to God. It wasn’t hard for me to do as a teenager because I hardly made any money. When my wife Sakiko became a new believer in her twenties, working as an editor at Newsweek magazine, she was making a very good salary. When she heard her pastor speak on Bible tithing, the idea came as a jolt to her at first, but then she learned the joy of giving.

When I have spoken on giving, some of you asked me (usually in hushed tones) what my giving practice is. Let me just share that with you. Since becoming a follower of Christ, I’ve been committed to tithing to my local church. When we were doing our building campaign, Sakiko and I were committed to tithing to this church (offering the first tenth), and then to giving above and beyond our tithe so that part could help replace the original sanctuary with a new East Hall which had become deteriorated to the point that we had to shut it down. God enabled us to fulfill our pledge. Since we at Tenth have completed the building and paid it down, Sakiko and I will continue to tithe here. We are also committed to giving over and above our tithe to another Christian organization that works with poor children around the world. It is our joy to do that.

Tithing is the starting point and it simply means we give the first Tenth to the work of God, whether it’s through local church, mission, or to the poor...

For many in the world their philosophy, when it comes to money, is “make all you can, can all you get, and sit on the can.” John Wesley was a very prominent minister in the 18th century. He was the founder of the Methodist Church and his motto was “make all you can, save all you can, and give all you can…” he truly lived this out. He figured out what he needed to live on modestly… lived on it and gave the rest away. John Wesley back in the 18th century had rock star status--he made a good living from his speaking and books, but he gave it nearly all away. He donated nearly all of the 30,000 pounds he earned in his lifetime (which was a fortune back in his day). He once wrote, "If I leave behind me ten pounds you and all mankind [can] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber."

If Christians in North America raised their level of giving to a simple a tithe which is 10 percent (John Wesley had a habit of giving 80% of his income away. He was married, but no kids), which is the standard starting point for believers in Scripture, it could make an enormous difference in the world.

Richard Stearns, one of the World Vision presidents, made the observation that if Christians in North America (the US and Canada) simply tithed, then we would have almost an EXTRA $200 billion dollars available for God’s work around the world.

(To put that in perspective, we spend about 800 billion dollars in the US and Canada on entertainment and recreation). (Can the powerpoint slides on the following… come out progressively point by point, but so that ONE slide is “filled out” with this data in the end?)

If Christians in North America (the US and Canada) simply tithed, then we would have an EXTRA $200 billion dollars available for God’s work around the world.

* we could bring an end to world hunger;
* solve the clean water crises;
* provide universal access to medical care for millions suffering from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis;
* virtually eliminate more the 26,000 daily child deaths (Bono—where a child is born should not determine IF a child lives);
* guarantee education for all the world’s children;
* provide a safety net for the world’s tens of millions of orphans.



If you are here and you still exploring the possibility of belief in God, tithing is not something that you are obligated to do. God calls his followers to tithe. You are not under that particular call, but it’s good for you to hear this because tithing of part of what God will call you to do once you give your life to him. But, living a life of compassion and generosity, as the Dali Lama has noted, is a great gift, so if you do not believe in God, why not consider giving to some organization that does good in the world. It may not be a Christian organization, but some movement that helps to alleviate the poverty and suffering of people somewhere in the world.

Something else we might consider as we seek to become people whose generosity reflects God’s grace to the world is to consider sponsoring a child.

In the movie About Schmidt, Jack Nicholson plays the role of a man named Warren Schmidt (show slide). He retires from a vice president's job at an insurance company, he’s wealthy, but looks back on a meaningless life, and ahead to a meaningless retirement.

One day, while watching television, Warren sees an opportunity to sponsor an underprivileged child in Tanzania. Warren responds to the appeal, and throughout the movie he faithfully sends the $22 a month.

On one occasion after a long road trip, Warren comes home to an empty house. He reluctantly walks in with an armload of impersonal junk mail.

Warren ambles up the stairs and looks disappointedly at the disheveled state of his bedroom. Throughout this scene, the audience hears Warren's voice-over narration of a letter he recently composed to 6 year old boy Ndugu he sponsors. He pours out his intense feeling of emptiness in this letter:

“I know we're all pretty small in the scheme of things, and I guess the best you can hope for is to make some kind of difference, but what difference have I made? What in the world is better because of me? I am a failure. There's just no getting around it. Real soon I will die. Maybe 20 years—maybe tomorrow—it doesn't matter. Once I am dead and everyone who knew me dies, it is as though I never existed. What difference has my life made to anyone? None that I can think of. Hope things are fine with you.

Yours Truly, Warren Schmidt.”

At the end of the scene, the depression on Warren's face gives way to wonder as he stares down at a letter from Tanzania. It is a letter from a nun who works in the orphanage where 6-year-old Ndugu lives. She tells Warren that Ndugu thinks of him every day and hopes he is happy. Enclosed is a picture drawn by Ndugu for Warren—two stick people smiling and holding hands under blue sky and the sun. Warren is overcome by the realization that he has made a difference. He lifts his hands to his tired face and cries…

He makes a difference and experiences gratitude and joy.

Something else we might do if we are able, if we want to become people whose generosity reflects God’s grace to the world, is to serve as part of some kind of mission local or global mission (consider visiting the ministry booths). Kevin Knight, a plumber in our community, recently shared about how next year he intends to live among the poorest in Phnom Pen, Cambodia as he serves with Servants for Asia’s Poor (and they will have a table in the back).

Again, you don’t need to be a billionaire to participate in serving the world. A couple of week ago, I shared how Leon a person who works as the shoeshine guy in a tall office building in Seattle provides water filtration systems that make clean water in places like Bolivia massive flooding (and perhaps now in the Philippines?) where the water has been contaminated because of flooding. How does he do it? As he shines shoes and posts pictures on the wall of places in the world that need clean water. Then when the business people, lawyers, and bankers whose shoes he is shining ask about the photos he says, “I’m raising money for a water filtration machines—would you like to help?

A few years ago Raul Hernandez, one of World Vision’s representatives in Florida, responded to a phone call from an elderly woman in Miami who asked if he could come to her apartment to discuss a gift. He wrote this email afterwards:

The apartment complex was located in a poor Latino neighbourhood of Miami. As I knocked at the door, I noticed the humble surroundings. She opened the door. Ana is a wonderful 91-year-young Colombian lady.

“Come in. You are the person who was sent to receive my gift?” She invited me into her humble one-bedroom apartment. No air conditioning.

I was told about her coming to North America in 1954 with her husband, her struggle to raise up her three children, her long working hours to meet the family basic needs... Then she told me about her terrible time of sickness, almost totally paralyzed, strangled by pain, limited by the mercy of others to move her around. Until she met the Lord and his healing power that sustains her until today.

After sharing more stories, she stood up and said, “Let me bring my gift to the children that World Vision is serving.”She went to the night table and brought an envelope to the table where we were seated. She opened the envelope with care as if it was a ceremony of love. She passed me five clipped lumps of twenty-dollar bills. “Count them. Please. I want to be sure I counted correctly.”

I counted them, and it was one thousand dollars. She then said, “I have been saving this for a long time with the intention to give it to for the poor children in the world. Every time someone gave me a gift for my birthday, or for Christmas, or for New Year, I saved it for the poor children. I am so blessed by the Lord that I want to bless those who are less fortunate than me. I sponsor a girl in Columbia. But I was thinking I will soon start my travel to my Celestial Home, to my Father; I need to do something soon on behalf of those suffering children. My prayer I that as Jesus took two fish and five loaves of bread and multiplied them to fed the thousands, that he will do the same with this, my gift. It’s not much, but it is everything I have.”

I was crying inside, such generosity is only possible by the work of the Holy Spirit. I felt I was blessed beyond my imagination. The humid heat of Miami, in this small apartment without air-conditioning, was totally forgotten under the refreshing breeze I felt coming from above as I enjoyed this visit with Ana. I was wondering, as I drove back home, how maybe she is not a “major donor” she is a heavenly donor.

Jesus said (in Matthew 25), “When you gave to the least of my brothers or sisters you gave to me.”

God’s grace came to the early church and they lived a life of generosity locally and globally, and experienced more of God’s soaring grace, and the work of God grew in their world. When we live this way so will we will experience soaring grace and God will say “this is a holy place and I am pleased to dwell here”… and the Kingdom of God will grow in our world.